But many “brainy" products are ineffective. As I note in this blog post, a controlled experiment has failed to show that infants learn to read from media-based instructional programs (Neuman et al 2014). And the evidence suggests that very young children don't learn to talk by watching TV. Instead, babies learn language by listening to and interacting with live human beings
(Kuhl 2005).

Then there are misconceptions and folk beliefs, like the idea
that praising kids for their intelligence will raise self-esteem and
improve their academic performance.

Even more interesting--at least to me--is the discovery that our beliefs about intelligence can hamper the learning
process. People who are convinced that intelligence is a fixed, unchanging trait are
less likely to learn from their mistakes and less likely to succeed in school.

Moreover, experiments suggest that your child's awareness of
social
stereotypes about intelligence and achievement (e.g., "girls have
stronger language skills," or "Asian kids are math prodigies") can
undermine his academic performance.

So here I present my guide to the “good bets"—evidence-based information
about the ways that parents can nurture their children’s intelligence. I will be adding more articles over time.

Exercise and intelligence

It’s both intriguing and unexpected: Aerobic exercise stimulates
brain growth and enhances our ability to learn. Studies also suggest
that exercise helps kids focus attention in school. But there’s a catch: To reap full benefits, exercise must be voluntary.
Click here for the whole story.

Play

Free play promotes better learning, memory, and growth of the
cerebral cortex. It also enhances the development of language, spatial
intelligence, counterfactual reasoning, and mathematical skills. For more information,
see this article about the cognitive benefits of play.

Working memory: The new IQ?

New research indicates that working memory capacity--that mental
notepad that we use to think thoughts and solve problems--is a better
predictor of school achievement than IQ. Read more about
working memory and the evidence that you can improve it with training.

Gestures

There's also good evidence that gesturing with your hands
improves your ability to remember and learn. Cognitive psychologist
Susan Goldin-Meadow and her colleagues have conducted a series of
experiments showing that kids are more likely to remember words, events,
and even math lessons when they gesture with their hands.

Researchers have noted a correlation between child IQ scores and
attachment status. For instance, one study of 36 middle-class mothers
and their three-year-olds found that securely-attached children scored
12 points higher on the Stanford-Binet intelligence test than did
insecurely attached children (Crandell and Hobson 1999).

What’s responsible for this correlation? It’s possible that more
intelligent children have an easier time forming secure attachments. For
instance, more intelligent kids are probably better at interpreting
their parents’ behavior and selecting the most appropriate response
(Waters and Valenzuela 1999).

But there is also evidence suggesting that
responsive parenting—which promotes secure attachments—contributes to
higher IQ.

In experiments with families at high risk for poor child outcomes, researchers randomly assigned some mothers to
receive training in responsive parenting techniques. The infants of
trained mothers showed greater growth in cognitive skills than did the
infants of control moms (Landry et al 2003; 2006).

The results are consistent with a recent study that attributes the cognitive advantages of breastfed babies to sensitive, responsive parenting (Gibbs and Forste 2014).

Mindsets for failure: Beliefs that hold your child back

Does your child believe that intelligence is a fixed trait?

Fascinating experiments indicate that what we believe about intelligence can impede our ability to learn.

People who believe that intelligence is a fixed, stable trait are
more likely to avoid challenges. They are also less likely to learn
from their mistakes--and the difference shows up in bran scans. Read more about this phenomenon and how it affects kids.

Does your child believe that “people like me" don’t do well academically?

If so, her beliefs might be undermining her performance in school.
Sound like politically correct propaganda? There is actually a lot of
solid experimental evidence confirming the existence of “stereotype
threat."
Learn more about this research and what you can do to counteract its effects.

How praise can undermine your child’s capacity to learn

Praise can be a great motivator. But it can also make kids focus on
the wrong goals. Research shows that the wrong kinds of praise can
actually undermine motivation and leave kids feeling helpless when they
fail. For more information, see
this article about the perils of praising kids for being smart.

Sleep and intelligence

Sleep and learning

There is a convincing body of evidence to suggest that we are
more likely to retain what we’ve learned-and more likely to achieve new
insights—if we go to sleep shortly after our studies (Gais et al 2006;
Wagner et al 2004).

People don’t need to sleep all night for the effect to work. Naps
as short as 60 minutes may be just as effective, as long as they
include slow-wave (non-REM) sleep (Mednick et al 2003; Alger et al
2012).

The effect has been demonstrated on kids as well as adults
(Backhaus et al 2008; Kurdziel et al 2013). So it seems to make sense
for kids to schedule their studies before naps and bedtime.

Unfortunately, institutionalized learning doesn’t make room for
study-naps! It would appear that home-schoolers, and other kids with
flexible academic schedules, are at a distinct advantage.

Sleep and cognitive development

It’s also possible that chronic sleep restriction has a lasting effect on cognitive performance.

In a study tracking Canadian kids from age 2.5 to 6 years,
researchers found that kids who were poor sleepers as toddlers performed
more poorly on neurodevelopmental tests when they were 6 years old
(Touchette et al 2007).

This was true even for kids whose sleep improved after age 3. The
researchers speculate that there may be a “critical period" in early
childhood, when the effects of sleep restriction are especially harmful
(Touchette et al 2007).

Math, logic, and critical thinking

Stanislaus Dehaene is a cognitive scientist and expert on the mathematical brain.

He argues that many kids have poor math skills because they are discouraged from developing an intuitive sense of number.

Unfortunately, such lessons are not yet a common part of most high
school--let alone middle school curricula. Even worse, I suspect that
the media and other influences are training our kids to think with
blinders on. To see what I mean, read this article on critical thinking in children.

Spatial intelligence

Spatial skills are crucial for success in a variety of fields,
ranging from physics and engineering to architecture and the visual
arts. Your child's performance on spatial tasks has a hereditary
component, but it's clear that educational experiences can also have a
big impact.

And for research-based activities that may boost your child's spatial skills, see this article.

Free choice

Kids show greater motivation and perform better when they get to choose what they do (Iyengar and Lepper 1999).

Well—that’s true for some American kids, anyway. It turns out
that the effect is culture-specific. One study compared Anglo-American
and Asian American kids. While the Anglo-Americans preferred tasks they
had chosen for themselves, the Asian Americans showed more motivation
when their choices were made for them by trusted authority figures or
peers (Iyengar and Lepper 1999).

The upshot? There may be no “one size fits all" approach to
classroom learning. Some kids may thrive when teachers give them
choices. Others might find this approach to be disconcerting.

For instance, research suggests that toy blocks may enhance spatial, math, problem-solving, and verbal skills. Find evidence-based information about blocks and other toys in these Parenting Science pages.

Wachs TD, Uzgiris IC, and Hunt JM. 1971. Cognitive development in
infants of different age levels and from different environmental
backgrounds: An explanatory investigation. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 17:
283-317.

Wachs TD. 1976. Utilization of a Piagetian approach in the
investigation of early experience effects: a research strategy and some
illustrative data. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 22: 11-30.